"When I finally got her on the phone today she indicated that she had contacted PA and they told her she was not to give out ANY information to ANY PA AUTHOR! The author is to be referred to PA."

Doesn't this sound a bit shady to them? We are the authors, we own the copyright and so should be privy to that kind of information. If PA says not to give the author that kind of information, and they are not paying royalties (not saying they are doing that though) and LS doesn't give the author the information can't they be considered an accessory after the fact? They knowingly didn't give out information that could show, if there is any, a crime has taken place.

It doesn't matter that the discussion on the PA board was valid.It s pulled because you and a few others were lamenting the no return policy and how that policy, along with a few other factors make it nearly impossible for bookstores to order PA books for their shelves.

PublishAmerica has to hide behind their smoke and mirrors game of distracting their authors, and more importantly potential new authors, that PA books are simply not stocked by bookstores. Any post that shows even a glimmer of truth of the real PA business model (ie. they want to sell books to the authors not to anybody else) has to be deleted.

<PublishAmerica has to hide behind their smoke and mirrors game of distracting their authors, and more importantly potential new authors, that PA books are simply not stocked by bookstores. Any post that shows even a glimmer of truth of the real PA business model (ie. they want to sell books to the authors not to anybody else) has to be deleted. >

That's exactly it. They can't deal with anyone threatening to upset their apple cart, i.e., business model of bulk sales to authors. Anyone who gloms onto the truth is quickly banned. It's like PravdA.

It seems that ebooks do sell. Ellora's Cave is doing really well. This from one of their interviews.

"That's one reason I so enjoyed hearing that Tina Engler now pays more in income tax every year than she collected the entire time she was on welfare. Her company grossed $1.2-million last year and is expected to easily double that figure this year. She has become quite famous in her field, and she employs dozens of people who also pay taxes on what they earn from her."

They made 1.2 million last year and are expected to double it this year. That sounds good to me. But PA says, on their authorsmarket site, that ebooks don't sell so since they say it then it must be true. These people must be mistaken right? :ha

They made 1.2 million last year and are expected to double it this year. That sounds good to me. But PA says, on their authorsmarket site, that ebooks don't sell so since they say it then it must be true. These people must be mistaken right?

:rofl If ebooks don't sell, how come, when I bought my Palm M125, I paid more than $60 for a 64 megabyte SD card to store all those ebooks? Eight megabytes wasn't enough for me. I have accounts at Fictionwise.com, eReader.com, and yes, romantica publishers such as Ellora's Cave. :grin And the people at many of the ebook distributors know me by name.

My storage card recently showed signs of data corruption. Do you think all the naughty ebooks corrupted it

lindylou45, send Ligntning Source a copy of the correspondence from PA informing you that they would discard correspondence from you. Then Lightning Source might rethink their willingness to cooperate with you, especially if you let them know that you are contemplating legal action against PA and anyone assisting them in concealing information you have a right to know as the author.

I was also told that I could not be given any information on how many books had been printed or sold after the termination of my contract.....the e mail was from Ingram, not Lightning Source, but did include them in the reply as not being allowed to respond because of my dispute with PA..........

One person e mailed me that she sent an e mail to Lightning Souce and received her reply from PA.

"First books are rarely bought because the story catches on. They are bought because there is something about the author that fascinates the buyer."

Oh, yeah, that statement bugged me. That...and the sentence before it about the author having to stand out. If people would just think about this a little--they go into Barnes and Noble or the little shoppe around the corner, and they do what? They see an author standing out and rush to the counter to buy the author's book? Or they browse the shelves, thumb the pages, check out the blurbs on the back cover, look for that book that they saw reviewed in their local paper or that other book that Betty Sue recommended to them the other day?

Me, I do the latter. I've only ever twice bought books because the author was Right There, standing out. (Once was at a teen writers conference in junior high--I dragged my mom to the bookstore immediately after talking to a Real Live Writer--and the other was after listening to another author talk at a library.) Two books. Two books in all these years. The rest I found at the library--my number one introduction to books--or on my parent's shelves (second only to the library because my parents had less books than the library and eventually the numbers were bound to catch up) or by the recommendations of friends or because people in the industry had recommended X book or by browsing in the bookstore. But so very rarely because the author was standing right there, standing out.

(BTW, Uncle Jim can prolly tell me if this is true--but is it true that libraries, like brick-and-mortar bookstores are also loath to acquire vanity published and POD books? If so, then there's another huge audience down the drain for the PA people.)

First books are rarely bought because the story catches on. They are bought because there is something about the author that fascinates the buyer.

That's a total lie.

On other notes, hi again, Stacee. You have some reading ahead of you ... this thread contains some very good stuff on PA, as do a couple of other threads here in the Bewares board.

As far as Lightning giving you numbers -- Lightning has a contract with PA, they don't have a contract with you. A subpoena will get the numbers; I doubt anything else will. Go get a lawyer.

And Stacee again -- yes, it was a good, valid discussion, and not at all disrespectful to PublishAmerica. But PublishAmerica couldn't let it stand because it reveals a truth that they don't want their potential customers to hear: That their books won't get into doors-and-windows bookstores.

If authors knew that, they wouldn't go with Publish America, would they? No. Therefore it's vital that they conceal that fact. The words "fraudulent inducement" and "deception by omission" should be on your lips when you lawyer up.

From the speed that Publish America pulls posts mentioning the problems with getting books into stores, they have to be conscious of what they're doing, and why.

Meanwhile -- if you have the private email addresses of any PA authors, let them know what happened: That you were banned for asking a simple question.

<From the speed that Publish America pulls posts mentioning the problems with getting books into stores, they have to be conscious of what they're doing, and why.

Meanwhile -- if you have the private email addresses of any PA authors, let them know what happened: That you were banned for asking a simple question.>

I think they're extremely conscious of every move they make. They're not going to take any "sass" and if they have to hire additional temps to keep the boards "clean" and the rebellion quelled, it's just taking care of business. Their business.

Oh, and about those boards -- I've now seen the private board and any possible reason for the top secrecy behind it is beyond me. It's about as sophisticated as high school study hall.

One more "Oh" -- what was PA's estimate of the percentage of dissatisfied authors again? I'm in a private group of "disgruntleds" with 13 members and 3 pending, and I have no doubt whatsoever that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

(BTW, Uncle Jim can prolly tell me if this is true--but is it true that libraries, like brick-and-mortar bookstores are also loath to acquire vanity published and POD books? If so, then there's another huge audience down the drain for the PA people.)

Yes, it's true.

You'll find that unless a book has been cataloged by the Library of Congress, and reviewed in a major venue (Library Journal, Kirkus, Booklist) that libraries either won't or can't purchase it.

We've heard reports of libraries refusing to take PublishAmerica books as a gift.

"Have you received any royalties this month? I haven't and I know I sold a few books. I'm hoping I didn't sell very many though, I don't want them to profit off my family and friends."

Although they state they pay royalties in August and February (I believe), the checks usually don't get to the authors until the first week in the following month (wait until the last minute, keep the money as long as possible)...used to work for a company who did a similar-type thing, until they couldn't pay the health insurance on time, then I left...